3, 4 From the start, these plans and previously rehearsed exercises helped to organize the work and set priorities. 2įortunately, the DOH had an emergency response infrastructure in place, developed in accordance with established public health principles and incorporating several key elements-for example, an incident command system laboratory, surveillance/epidemiology, medical, and environmental response capability and communication mechanisms and training exercises. In the first chaotic hours, the city’s Office of Emergency Management, located in the WTC, was evacuated many telephone and computer lines ceased to function the police closed Lower Manhattan, making it difficult to mobilize the 20% of the DOH’s workforce located there and emergency medical staff and civilians unexpectedly brought injured people into the DOH lobby, necessitating the deployment of a crisis medical team. Thirty-two minutes after the first plane crash, the New York City Department of Health (DOH) activated its incident command center. This report is based on public documents as well as presentations at a March 2002 conference, “The Public Health Aspects of September 11th.” Where relevant, we refer to published studies and official reports released through September 2002. While the focus of this report is on the attack and the initial response, new reports on both short- and longer-term effects are emerging regularly. This article assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the city’s initial response to the attack, describes the short-term impact in the first 6 months after the attack, and suggests lessons that can inform the development of a post–September 11th agenda for strengthening urban health infrastructures. The attack also placed unprecedented demands on New York City’s public health, health care, and social service systems. 1 In the following days, millions of people in the metropolitan region were exposed to a combination of air pollution, dangerous work conditions, and psychological trauma. The crash and the resulting fires and building collapses killed 2801 people, 147 of whom were passengers on the 2 jets. Within 2 hours, both towers had collapsed. Eighteen minutes later, another plane crashed into the South Tower. Mostefa Souag, acting director general of Al Jazeera Media Network, described the bombing of the company’s offices as “a blatant violation of human rights” and a war crime, calling on the international community to condemn the attack and “to hold Israel accountable for its deliberate targeting of journalists and the media institutions”.Īssociated Press’s president and chief executive, Gary Pruitt, said: “We are shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organisations in Gaza.AT 8:46 am ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, as all the world now knows, a Boeing 767 jet flew into the North Tower of the World Trade Center (WTC) in Lower Manhattan. When I tell the world what’s happening here, I find some small solace.” “But on a deeper level, it’s speaking to people in Gaza, working to get their voices out of a territory they themselves cannot leave, that keeps me sane. The Israeli military has the coordinates of the high-rise, so it’s less likely a bomb will bring it crashing down. “The Associated Press office is the only place in Gaza City I feel somewhat safe.

We ran down the stairs from the 11th floor and now looking at the building from afar, praying Israeli army would eventually retract. “Prior to the strike, the IDF provided advance warning to civilians in the building and allowed sufficient time for them to evacuate the site,” the IDF said.Īnd now bombs could fall on our office. “Whenever you see journalists doing live updates from Gaza, they are usually standing on the roof of that building that has now been flattened in an airstrike by the Israeli military.”Ī statement from the Israel Defence Forces said the building had contained military assets belonging to the intelligence offices of Hamas. His request was denied.Īl Jazeera also broadcast live the destruction of the building: “And the tower has come down,” said the news anchor, Halla Mohieddeen, as the building collapsed. The building was hit approximately six times before collapsing in plumes of black smoke which engulfed the entire neighbourhood.Īl Jazeera broadcast live a phone call between the building’s owner, Abu Husam, and an Israeli intelligence officer in which Husam asks the officer to give the media personnel time to evacuate equipment from their offices. 🚨 Israel has given a “warning” that it will bomb the building that houses Al Jazeera offices and other international media channels in Gaza City in one hour.our colleagues have already evacuated- لينة May 15, 2021

Attacking the tower